“It’s so good to be me.” Grams wrapped her hand around the coffee mug. “Everything is clearer instead of fuzzy around the edges.”
Errol patted her hand. “You have Davien to thank for that. He was the one who suggested looking at the meds you were taking.”
Grams raised her mug again. “Seems we have much to celebrate.” She busied herself putting the rest of the cake away. “Do you have any plans for the weekend? You should be out having fun.”
“Davien wants to take me to an orchard.”
Grams’s brows shot up.
“Not today,” I clarified. “We have time.”
“An orchard? Interesting. I had a friend who loved visiting the orchards outside town.” She caught my eye. Was she sending me a message?
Or did she just love fresh fruit?
Chapter 13
Errol
Things were going wonderfully with Davien. My grandma was doing better than she had in years. Work was great. Everything in my life was fabulous except one thing; I was tired—so very, very tired.
The constant back-and-forth between Davien’s house, my house, and Grams’s house was getting to be a lot. I felt like I was either in the car or at work pretty much the entire day, leaving not as much time as I wanted with the people I loved.
Not that I loved Davien—except I did. Except I couldn’t, because it was too soon. Right? True love took time to foster and all that. But also, I felt for him something I’d never felt for anyone else.
It was complicated, just like the stupid social media labels so many people put up. Only I doubted they used it for feeling ridiculously happy, having constant butterflies in their middle, and a sense of joy unlike any they’d ever felt before. And if they did? It was officially the best relationship status in existence.
Everything felt right with Davien, like we were meant to be. We got along so well. We had fun when we were together, both inand out of the bedroom. We could talk for hours, and he was not only understanding of why I felt the responsibility to take care of my grandma, but also wanted to be part of it. And wow, did the two of them ever get along. Sometimes, I thought they had a secret code only they understood. It was great to see.
In reality, I shouldn’t complain about anything. I was living my best life. I had a sexy boyfriend, and my Grams’s health was a thousand times better—she hadn’t even mooned anybody in weeks. Not that mooning should be the bar.
I stopped home after work to catch a quick shower and throw on some date clothes. Neither of us had work in the morning, so I tossed a set of clean clothes into a bag and was on my way. The sky was getting darker by the second, and the first big drops of rain splashed on my windshield just as I buckled my belt. I flicked the radio and found the local station. According to the DJ, an unexpected storm had arrived.
Great.
The plan had been for us to go to the orchard. Davien had been trying to take me there for a while, but something always seemed to get in our way. I felt bad because I had shared a meaningful part of my life with him through Grams, and in return, he was trying to share something meaningful with me, but it just wasn’t happening. This time it was Mother Nature who decided to thwart our fun.
I pulled out of my driveway, crossing my fingers that it would pass quickly. Instead, it got worse and worse. The rain hit the windshield so hard that it could easily be mistaken for hail. Less than halfway there, I had my wipers on full blast and was going under the speed limit. Had I been going anywhere else, I’d haveturned around and gone home, but this was Davien. He was worth the white knuckles this weather was giving me.
Lightning cracked in the distance as I pulled into his driveway. As bad as this was, according to my very scientific “one Mississippis,” the storm was still a couple of miles away which meant it was going to get worse before it got better. I didn’t care. I was exactly where I wanted to be.
I grabbed my umbrella from the seat beside me, but I wasn’t sure if I should run for it or take the time to open it. I ended up running for it. My hair was dripping wet by the time I reached his front door. I wasn’t sure it would’ve been better the other way.
“You look like a drowned rat,” he said, pulling me in for a hug, not caring that I was soaking wet and that he was now just as wet.
“Yeah, I thought maybe it would be better than trying to open my umbrella first with the wind going the way it is.”
We stepped further in and he shut the door. The pounding of the water on the roof echoed through the room. This one was a doozie.
“You were probably right.” He gave me a far-too-quick kiss. “Come in. I think we need to make some alternative plans for the evening, huh?”
I chuckled. “You don’t want to go to the orchard?”
It was the night of the full moon, not that we’d be able to see it with the clouds and lightning. A picnic under the moonlight had sounded wonderful when we planned it. Mother Naturedisagreed. Even if the rain stopped now, the ground was going to be a muddy mess. “So what were you thinking instead?”
If he didn’t have anything, I sure had ideas… lots and lots of ideas, and none of them involved clothing.
“We could have an indoor picnic slash movie night.” And then there was Davien’s idea which also sounded fun. A very different kind of fun, but fun.